Know Well What Leads You Forward (and What Holds You Back)
by riptidedauntlessgryffindor
Summary: [Written for the Random Quote Challenge by PierceTheVeils on Percy Jackson Fanfiction Challenges] "Know well what leads you forward, and what holds you back." Well, Annabeth has certainly had a day of things that could hold her back or lead her forward. Including a certain green-eyed, black-haired boy who might manage to charm his way into the list of things that lead her forward.


**Author's note-**

 **This was written for a prompt: the quote below. Thanks for reading; hope you enjoy!**

 **-SOS**

"Know well what leads you forward, and what holds you back." -Buddha

Annabeth stared at the piece of paper in her hand, with the quote scrawled on it in messy, almost indecipherable handwriting, and sighed. Ever since they had read that novel back in the fourth grade where the main character's mom gave the character a quote everyday, Annabeth's step-mom had taken to doing that too. And since it was a weekend with no school, Annabeth would probably have to write an essay about her life and how it related to the quote, in order to "keep up her academic reputation and stay intelligent."

Sighing, Annabeth folded the piece of paper and stuck in in her jeans pocket. She wished she could forget about school for one stupid day and actually enjoy life. _I know what holds me back_ , she thought, grimacing. _School and my step-mother._

As she boarded the just-arriving bus, which she was taking to the library, Annabeth realized something. Something very important. She had forgotten her science homework at her house, and today was the only chance she had all weekend to do it. It was due on Monday, and if she didn't finish it today, she was in big trouble.

But this was the only bus that went to the library from anywhere near her house until around ten in the morning, and by then, half her freedom time would have been wasted. _I'll just look it up on the Internet,_ Annabeth thought, trying to reassure herself. _I'm sure it'll be there._

Trying to calm her anxiety, she boarded the bus, not even caring who she sat next to or across from. She pulled her black hood up over her head and clutched her bag tightly in her arms, making herself look like she didn't want anybody to sit next to her. Somehow, her plan didn't work. At the next stop, she felt a figure sit down next to her heavily. Annabeth didn't bother to look who it was, because she could see the reflection of the boy in the window.

It was Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson, winner of all three all-sport cups so far this school year, most popular boy in school, best-loved by girls, and one of the three people in the whole grade failing math with under a 65% average. Annabeth wondered why on earth he would sit next to her of all people, the girl who was on top of the honor roll every week, the girl who couldn't talk to boys to save her life, the girl who had never gotten below a 95% average in any class. The only time Percy had ever actually been even a tiny bit close to her was in third grade, when they had to work on a project together. So why was he sitting here now?

Annabeth turned around to face Percy and watch him. He was facing the other direction, talking to two other boys from their school who were sitting in the seat across from him. Annabeth recognized them as Jason, the second most popular boy in school, and Nico, Percy's younger cousin who no one really knew much about. The three boys were talking about something stupid so Annabeth just watched them, tuning out the rest of the world.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Percy. He smiled at her and pointed to his friends. "Jason, Nico, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, these are my friends Jason and Nico."

Annabeth couldn't help but feel a tinge of happiness at the fact that he knew her name. _The most popular boy at school knew_ her _name!_ She smiled and waved shyly at the boys, wondering why on Earth Jason and Nico had mischievous looks on their faces and Percy was glaring at them so evilly.

Jason shook Annabeth's hand, the look on his face contradicting his polite manner. "Oh, so this is the famous Annabeth! It's nice to finally meet you. How's Percy treating you?"

She just stared blankly at Jason. Annabeth didn't know what they were talking about, but she had a feeling that they were either trying to play a trick on her or there was something else weird going on. Jason just grinned at her, and Percy's face was red.

Luckily, the bus had stopped at the library. Annabeth quickly gathered up her bag and raced off the bus, ignoring her heart's pace quickening as Percy waved at her, and smiled. When she was safely in the library, she dropped her bag down on a chair and turned on one of the computers. _Too much excitement in one day_ , she told herself. _I need to stay focused on what's really important here – my homework._ Typing in the name of the workbook that her class worked from, she waited for the results to load. The last time the library had received new computers was seven years ago, and their signal wasn't that good earlier. But the reason Annabeth like the library was because it was a place where she could get away from all the disturbances and annoyances of her life.

Just as she was thinking that, the library doors swung open and something that could definitely be categorized as a disturbance walked in. Standing there in all of his jet-black, rolled-out-of-bed-this-morning hair and seaweed-green-eyed glory, was Percy Jackson. Following closely behind him were Jason and Nico, but they immediately headed off to the games and movies section, while Percy just stood in the doorway, looking around. Annabeth stared at him for a whole second before turning around to get back to her work.

What the computer screen displayed was not very promising to Annabeth. What she gathered from all the information on the page was only one thing – she needed to pay to make an account on the workbook's website in order to be able to access the material. Rolling her eyes, Annabeth picked up her bag, closed Internet Explorer on the library's unhelpful computer, and turned around, ready to go back home and get her workbook. But when she turned around, what she saw wasn't anything she was expecting to see.

Percy was standing behind her, caught in the act of looking at Annabeth's computer screen intently. His face turned red when she noticed him, and he made as if to leave, but she stopped him. "Why are you suddenly so obsessed with me? First the bus ride, and now this. What's up with you, Percy?"

He shrugged nervously, but when Annabeth's grey eyes seemed to bore deep into him, he began to talk. "Um...so I may have accidentally told all my friends that you're my girlfriend..." Ignoring Annabeth's furious and confused look, he continued. "Sorry. They were teasing me about not being good with girls, and I kind of snapped. We were walking past the office and I just happened to notice the honor roll list, and I thought of you. So...yeah."

Annabeth didn't know whether to burst out laughing at the hilarity of the situation, or to yell at Percy (quietly, of course, since they were in a library) so she just stared at him. He stared back, though she was sure her stare gave him more chills than his gave her, because after a few seconds, he shivered slightly.

Trying to hold back her laughter, Annabeth turned away. Then she remembered why he was standing there in front of her. Her face turned red in anger and she burst out, "Seriously? Even after all the girls you could have picked, you chose me? You have got to be kidding me."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Gosh, woman, calm down. I just didn't want to look like an idiot in front of my friends, okay? So please, can you pretend to be my girlfriend whenever we see each other?"

Annabeth was tempted to ask, "What's in it for me?" but instead, she said, "I have a better plan. I'll pretend to be your girlfriend for a minute, and then I'll pretend to break up with you. Is that fair?" She swore she could see a trace of hurt on his face when she suggested to break up with him, and briefly wondered why.

"Um...okay," Percy agreed hesitantly. The same trace of hurt was still reflected on his face. "Let's do that now."

"I am breaking up with you," Annabeth said stiffly. "Goodbye."

Percy sighed. "Not like that! You have to actually break up with me. For real."

 _You just want to spend time with me,_ Annabeth thought wryly. Out loud, she just muttered, "Why don't you just tell your friends that you've broken up with me? I won't make a big deal out of it."

"Fine," Percy muttered. "But don't you want the answers to the science homework?"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "What...how did you know that?" She glanced at him, the look of amazement written clearly on her face as she did so. "Are you stalking me?"

"Um...no. I just happened to see your computer screen, that's all. Now, do you want the answers, or not?" Percy asked. "If you break up with me in front of my friends, I'll help you with the science homework."

"Okay," Annabeth said. She walked over to Jason and Nico in the gaming section, and stood in awkwardly front of them, trying to discreetly motion to Percy to come over too. He did, and Annabeth cleared her throat, making sure her voice was loud enough for the other boys to hear. "Perseus Jackson! I'm sorry, but I've had enough with you. We're breaking up, and this time it's for real. Now leave me alone."

As she walked away, she could feel Jason and Nico's looks of confusion and Percy's stare. She couldn't detect any emotion in his gaze, just emptiness. "I'm sorry," she whispered to Percy, though he couldn't hear it, "but it had to be done."

Before she left that section of the library, she quietly grabbed the science workbook that Percy had left lying open on the table near the computers. She slunk away and copied the answers onto a piece of paper, double-checking each one to make sure they were right. When Annabeth was done, she looked towards the door and noticed the boys leaving.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," Percy was saying. "See you at basketball practice tonight!" She watched him high-five Nico and Jason before they left, and Percy started to head over to her.

"Hey," she greeted him when he was standing in front of her. "Thanks for the homework help. Whoever thought that you, Percy Jackson, would be helping me with my homework?" she joked.

Percy shrugged. He seemed sort of depressed. "Yeah," he said distractedly. "Whatever."

"You know, I'm sorry about everything," Annabeth said. "It's just that I'm not really comfortable with, you know, being rushed into stuff." The look on Percy's face was still not happy, so Annabeth took a deep breath and suggested, "Maybe we could try again?"

It was scary how fast Percy's head jerked up and his expression changed. "Are you serious?" he asked so loudly that even the half-deaf woman in the corner shushed him. He lowered his voice. "Because, Annabeth, I didn't randomly pick you to be my fake girlfriend. I chose you because I like you, and I have since third grade and that project we worked on. You're beautiful, and really smart. I was really hoping you would like me back."

Annabeth sighed. "I do like you," she said softly. "There's a cafe down the street. Do you want to share an ice cream float?"

"Only if I get the maraschino cherry," Percy replied, smiling.

And if Annabeth did have to write an essay about the quote from that morning, Percy would definitely be one of the things that led her forward… Along with the way he smiled, his voice, and the way he offered to pay for their ice cream float. Yeah, Annabeth was kind of in too deep. But at least she wasn't drowning in boredom and unfinished science homework.

So, when Jason and Nico wanted to know why Percy's relationship status on Facebook suddenly changed back to "In a relationship," he told them, "I have a girlfriend who leads me forward, and nothing can hold me back."


End file.
